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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Explosion at ConAir in Rantoul? |
Current rating: 0 |
by Paul Kotheimer
Email: herringb (nospam) prairienet.org (verified) |
08 Jun 2005
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First report. Please add facts in "comments" section as they arive. |
An explosion at ConAir in Rantoul. People evacuate to nearby high school.
Any more on this...? |
This work is in the public domain |
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Re: Explosion at ConAir in Rantoul? |
by cut and paste
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
09 Jun 2005
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Here's the News-Gazette story:
Rantoul plant explosion kills 1
By TIM MITCHELL
AND KAREN BINDER
© 2005 THE NEWS-GAZETTE
Published Online June 9, 2005
RANTOUL – One employee was found dead late Wednesday night after an explosion rocked Conair Corp., one of Rantoul's largest industrial plants.
According to Rantoul Fire Chief Ken Waters, the worker's body was found in the vicinity of the plant's alcohol room, which is also where the fire is believed to have started. Further details about the worker's identity will not be released until after the family has been notified. The Associated Press reported today that the victim was a woman.
Rantoul Police Chief Paul Dollins said the department received a call at about 8:46 p.m. that a major explosion had occurred at the hair and beauty products plant, north of U.S. 136 at 205 Shelhouse Road.
Conair employs 240 full-time employees in the 240,000-square-foot facility at the Rantoul Industrial Park.
Waters estimated that 50 firefighters, emergency medical personnel and police from Rantoul, Gifford, Sangamon Valley, Thomasboro and Champaign were called to the scene. When firefighters arrived, they saw huge flames coming through the roof on the east side of the production plant.
"The fire was fueled by alcohol and was difficult to extinguish," Dollins said.
Firefighters reported at least six explosions after they arrived at the scene.
The Rantoul Police Department said 55 people were in the factory at the time of the explosion; all but two escaped unharmed. In addition to the worker found dead, one employee was treated for minor injuries and released.
Dollins said employees from the nearby Eagle Wings Industries plant also were evacuated. "The wind was blowing to the north, so we felt it was the prudent thing to do,'' he said.
A hazardous materials team set up a decontamination van in an adjacent parking lot to cleanse firefighters from any chemicals they encountered.
Waters said no firefighters were injured.
It was shortly after the 8:30 p.m. dinner break, about 8:45 p.m., that Conair materials handler Mike Eskew heard the first of two quick explosions in the room next door to him – the alcohol room.
"I thought it was thunder, and then it happened again. By the time I knew it wasn't thunder and it was in the building, I saw flames, and then the alarm went off. That's when I got out of the building,'' Eskew said.
He was among the employees who calmly exited the two-story facility. "Everyone was pretty cool, pretty smooth overall. We knew what to do,'' Eskew said. "They have told us many times what to do in this situation, but we never walked through it before. I was surprised how calm everyone was."
The employees were directed by emergency personnel to go across the street, where management took a head count and paramedics made initial injury assessments, Eskew said.
By that time, flames were shooting through the roof and several other explosions ripped through the plant.
Eskew described the alcohol room as having two giant tanks filled with alcohol, which is used for cleaning tools, equipment and other items.
"That's highly flammable stuff, and the aerosol room is on the other side of it. That's flammable, too," Eskew said.
Dollins said later said the fire ignited in the alcohol room, but the cause was not yet known. He also said alcohol was fueling the fire.
"The main area of the explosion appears to be an area of 30 feet by 30 feet," Dollins said. "At this time, it appears the damage was contained to a small portion of the plant."
Rantoul police Officer Jim Sullivan added that denatured alcohol used in hair spray production also fueled the fire.
Waters said firefighters saw a series of blasts from 55-gallon drums of alcohol exploding on the site.
Waters said firefighters were able to send in a search and rescue crew by 10:30 p.m. to look for hot spots and to look for an employee who had been missing since the fire's start at about 8:45 p.m.
"The recon team found the body at about 11:30 p.m., and we immediately notified the coroner and the police," Waters said.
Waters said Champaign County Coroner Duane E. Northrup arrived shortly thereafter and declared the employee dead at the scene.
Waters said firefighters had the blaze under control by midnight and were able to leave the scene by 4 a.m.
"This was a difficult fire to put out because we were dealing with multiple layers of roof and a series of alcohol drums," Waters said. "The explosion literally blew out the roof. Most of the fire went straight up."
Waters said firefighters managed to confine most of the damage to the section of the plant where the explosion occurred.
Waters said the plant's sprinkler system was working, so there was water and smoke damage in approximately half of the facility.
Rantoul Mayor Neal Williams said village public works crews were on the scene to keep electricity running to operate pumps that drew water from a nearby detention pond.
Eskew and his co-workers were scheduled to work until 12:15 a.m.
"We've been ordered to stay here and follow directions until the situation is under control,'' he said. "I'll be glad to leave here. There's all kinds of chemicals in there. There's a lab upstairs and a giant gas tank in the back."
The employees were taken by school bus at about 10 p.m. to Rantoul Township High School, where they were reunited with their families and allowed to return home.
By 10 p.m., Dollins said, the decision was made to order midnight-shift workers at Conair and the neighboring Eagle Wings and Rantoul Products plant to stay home. Conair first-shift workers also were ordered not to report to work this morning.
Waters said investigators from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Fire Marshal's Office were on the scene early this morning and were expected to return later today.
"We think the cause is accidental, but we'll have to wait for the investigation," Dollins said. |
